The representation of African American women in black cinema: Historical, cultural, and black feminist perspectives

Focusing on the historical and cultural transformations in the representation of Black women in cinema, this study seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the social and cinematic positioning of the Black woman through a broad perspective that extends from the institution of slavery to the present day. The emergence and historical development of slavery within the context of human history, the cultural diversity of Africa, the transatlantic slave trade, and the formation of Afro-American memory provide a basis for understanding the multilayered systems of oppression historically imposed on Black women. Within this context, the theoretical foundations of Black feminism and the development of Black cinema have been evaluated through period-specific categories such as race films, problem films, blaxploitation, the L.A. Rebellion, and the New Black Cinema. The aim of the study is to analyze the representations of Black women in cinema within the framework of historical context and cultural identity, in order to make visible their unique forms of resistance, memory, and identity construction. In this regard, the research contributes to the analysis of the creative spaces of expression for Black women in both cultural and political terms; through this contribution, it also expands Black feminist theory within the context of cinema. Accordingly, Haile Gerima's Bush Mama (1979) and Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust (1991) from the L.A. Rebellion period, and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It (1986) along with Savanah Leaf's Earth Mama (2023) from the New Black Cinema movement, are analyzed using the method of Black feminist cultural analysis. Keywords: Black feminism, Black cinema, Black feminist cultural analysis, representation, identity, resistance, cultural memory.